marine geophysics
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Talking With Bill Ryan, Detective of the Deeps
Marine geologist William B.F. Ryan discusses once seemingly unlikely theories about the evolution of oceans and seas, the hunt for the wreck of the Titanic, the Biblical Flood, and more.
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Shifts in Deep Geologic Structure May Have Magnified Great 2011 Japan Tsunami
A new study looks at why the 2011 Tohoku tsunami off Japan was unexpectedly huge.
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Rip in Crust Drives Undersea Volcanism, Says Study
Earthquakes and Violent Sounds Under the Pacific Provide Clues
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Zeroing in on Life Around a Hydrothermal Vent
Vicki Ferrini has spent a lot of time working on mapping the ocean floor, and now she’s sailing in the South Pacific to get a closer look.
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Dennis E. Hayes, Mapper of the World’s Ocean Beds
Dennis E. Hayes, a marine geophysicist who advanced mapping of the world’s ocean floors, died at his home in New York City on Aug. 6. He was 76.
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Recovering ‘Sea Spiders’ and Heading Home
The NoMelt project is more than just a seismic experiment; it also has an important magnetotelluric (MT) component. MT instruments measure natural magnetic and electric fields on the seafloor, allowing scientists to estimate the electrical conductivity of the underlying rocks. Conductivity is highly sensitive to tiny amounts of water and molten rock within the upper…
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Santa Comes Bearing an OBS
Recovering OBS instruments from the ocean floor is always a tricky business, especially in our case; these instruments have been sitting beneath more than 3.5 miles of water for over a year. With cold, tired batteries powering the instruments’ acoustic transponders, communicating with them through miles of ocean currents amounts to a whispered conversation on…
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Transiting the Pacific
Today marks our sixth day aboard the R.V. Melville on a journey to a remote region of the Pacific to retrieve seismic instruments that have been quietly recording earthquake signals on the ocean floor for the past year. We have covered more than 2,600 km thus far but must cruise for another two and a…
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One Year Later – Return to the NoMelt Site
On December 18, 2012, the Research Vessel Melville departed San Diego to recover remainder of the NoMelt instruments and data. The expedition includes two scientists from Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Post-doctoral scientist Patty Lin and graduate student Natalie Accardo. Natalie is sending regular reports from the ship.
